Ghost of you
by yume girl 91
Summary: You said, "I will always be with you, no matter where you are." But now I know you're not here any-more. AU Ichi/Ruki R&R! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1 Revenant

There was a girl on _his _bed.

In _his_ room.

To the amber-colored eyes of the orange-haired revenant lurking like a peeping tom from the partially open sliding door of the closet, this was a most welcome distraction. He carefully slid his gaze up her long bare legs to the tiny denim ruffles of the mini-skirt and matching pink frills going down the bodice of the cap-sleeved blouse she had on. Her chest, he observed rising and falling with gentle breaths, was nearly nonexistent. He frowned.

Like all _older_ teenage boys he had a definite curiosity about the female anatomy. This one notwithstanding, she had a nice body though her height seemed to be lacking, he saw when she sat up, running her fingers through shoulder-length black hair. Her face he had yet to quite study in detail being averted from the direction he was in. Yet when she turned fully his way…the ghost for that was what he was, gasped air he hadn't had in over a quarter of a century.

He stretched out a filmy see-through hand to her shoulder as she passed. The girl flinched and cast a cursory glance around as if expecting a parted window to explain the sudden draft she found touching her arm. She shrugged, looking past where he stood in front of her. Drafty old house, she thought to herself, her hand closing around the dulled brass of the ancient knob.

For the briefest of moments her fingers came into contact with frigid air, well below the sunny day shining outside. The revenant withdrew his hand, wondering at the faint electric pulse that had passed between them. The girl as he emulated her only a few feet away, stared down at the open palm of her grimy hand, warm now as his was cold.

She wiggled her fingers; flashing the light off of a rhinestone band the kind of thing boyfriends gave their girlfriends as gifts. He wondered _what_ _her boyfriend looked like_. He sighed, catching the cobwebs on the ceiling off guard, their spun webs swinging. The girl's violet eyes rolled up to the ceiling where she noticed the spiders scurrying, a tremor shuddered through her and she hurriedly exited her new room.

The orange-haired revenant followed, passing like a smoky wisp through the worn wood of the door, his brown loafers soundless on the wooden landing. The girl stood for a second, breathing in and out then reached past him to open the door and peek inside once more. _Nothing_, just as her mind told her, _yet that sense remained as if she weren't alone upstairs_…

~~~To be continued or not?~~~

A/N: Don't own Bleach :P I'd had this idea for over a month now, title included. Hmm anyhow was it entertaining? Let me know!


	2. Chapter 2 Sight

Most girls would be thrilled at having their own room, bathroom plastered in a blue-striped color, included. From the girl's perspective as she investigated this new space a frown settled on her delicate features. Suspiciously she concluded the former occupant must've been a _boy_. She might've come to that decision earlier if she could have just _seen_ the orange-haired _male _revenant hovering behind her every clomp and inch as she peeked into tiny crannies and nooks, in general disliking the place already.

She had opened the kitchen pantry and let the white painted door bang shut upon sighting the dusty den of spiders on every paisley paper lined shelf. The revenant followed her all the way up to the front door, where frustratingly he watched her step outside and walk away to the chain-link fence where a midnight blue Sedan was parked in the driveway.

_So they were moving in…but how many_?

The revenant politely stepped back; allowing the raven-haired girl entry as she hefted a large box marked ominously, '_brother's clothes_,' in her thin arms. Once a long time ago, _he_ had been a brother to two younger sisters. He wondered how many the unnamed girl had, _younger_, _or older_? An older brother might take Karin and Yuzu's old room adjacent just down the hall from his—correction—hers now. But a younger might…

He floated over to the staircase, glancing upward. From the shift in the floor above he determined it to be his sisters' former room the girl was going into. Maybe older then…

~~~*~~~

The revenant revised this assumption once the boy in question arrived home from school. Floppy black hair, large green eyes and an annoying habit of staring just slightly off to the side at a spot behind his sister…where _he_ was standing, the girl glanced over her shoulder to look for whatever Ulqui-kun was looking at. The revenant squirmed a little self-consciously though she couldn't see him. The boy though, might.

As proved further by _Rukia_ leaving the room to go upstairs and use her cell-phone to order Pizza. The revenant made as if to follow her but found two freaky green orbs staring at his back. "I see you," the kid said, his voice unnaturally deep for being so young. The revenant turned reluctantly from the direction of the stairs and his quarry, "you do? Well good for you, kid."

"Ulquiorra."

"What?"

"My name is Ulquiorra Kuchiki. What's yours?"

Amber eyes widened as realization struck, he could pump the kid for info on the sister. Never mind him being able to be seen by someone not particularly desirable. "Ulquiorra, huh? Mind I call you Ulqui-kun as your sister did? No probably not." The revenant laughed, ghosting the top of Ulquiorra's black hair, "Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki, resident revenant of the old abandoned Kurosaki clinic. How do you do?"

~~~*~~~

Ichigo the revenant mulled over his strained conversation with _Rukia's_ half-brother. _Strained_ because every so often _she_ would interrupt and Ulquiorra would break off mid-sentence to answer _Nee-chan's_ questions about just _whom_ he was talking to. Though he hadn't eaten in over a quarter of a century he still wistfully sniffed the air as the Kuchiki siblings ate dinner. Their father wasn't expected back from a business trip until the next week, in the meantime they were to get settled and properly situated in the old house.

The sound of plates being scraped and water running told him they had finished. Soon a single pair of footsteps approached and _her_ matter-of-fact voice called over her shoulder, "I'm going to take a quick shower then turn in. You'd better do the same!"

A chuckle and then a light winked off, satisfied he'd heard, she continued her way up, past Ichigo where he sat on the landing dangling his legs down through the rails and into her room. The door closed and then after a while, the light beneath the door grew soft and muted, the water taps were turned on and the familiar rasp of a bathroom door squeaking on its hinges came to his ears.

He smirked; it was time to move.

Closed and locked doors didn't perturb him. Not like anyone made of flesh and blood. He simply stepped through the paneled door; going to the left he went through another just as she had dropped her panties onto the floor. The water running; filled the tiny room in a sort of misty haze, warm but with the tiniest bit of chill from his presence.

Her skin broke out in goose pimples; self-consciously she crossed her arms over her bare breasts, feeling not seeing appraising eyes on her. She glanced, much as she had earlier, from corner to corner, past him, never noticing his shifting shadow on the wall nor after she stepped under the running water, the vaguely defined form of a young man standing just outside the shower curtain, making it blow softly inward to caress her thighs.

Twice she jumped back, cursing as she nearly slid in the puddle of shampoo at her feet. Quicker than seemingly possible she turned the water off and quickly stepped out, her hand reaching for a fluffy pink towel hanging on the wrought iron bar on the wall near the sink. Her violet eyes just happened to pass their gaze over the foggy mirror, illuminating strangely enough…a teenage boy's face where as before it hadn't.

For a minute, Rukia grasped the towel in her hands, her naked body dripping water onto the bath rug beneath her feet. Steam rose in spiraling waves, as cool air was just a step or two behind her back. She glanced at the mirror again, catching the same reflection of a boy near her age with spiky orange hair and intense amber eyes staring at her…waitasecond!

Behind.

Her.

She slowly turned around, a peculiar feeling touched her mind and something opened up. A door it felt like and she saw with no uncertain horror…A boy for there truly was one, lounging against the edge of the tub, his long legs encased in gray pants and wearing a white shirt that had a stain, she thought might be blood over the heart, his startling amber eyes roved up and down her with evident interest.

"Hiya," he said cheerfully.

Rukia screamed then, recalling for just that minute, his proximity…and her _nakedness._

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: Heh, Ichi's a perverted ghost isn't he? Heehee, please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Ghosts it turns out are as, the revenant whom introduced himself as Ichigo Kurosaki, explained simply earthbound spirits. Rukia sat on the edge of her bed, wrapped in a fluffy violet bathrobe. Pajamas beneath. _He was sorry_, he said seeming not at all like he was, _if he'd given her a fright in the bathroom_. Her brother, he didn't mention, could see him as well.

She nodded; enough library books read to her as a child and once in a while picked up now had convinced her of Ichigo's definite filmy presence. She wasn't just imagining a perverted-add-lecherous Strawberry revenant whom had peeped on her while taking a bath and then afterward, while being naked.

"Do you know why you're trapped?" she asked, businesslike at once. If she could figure out was keeping him there then maybe…

"I don't," he muttered, casting a dark look to the shag rug, "well, duh. If I did then I wouldn't be hanging around here, would I?"

Was he calling her stupid?

Rukia's eyes narrowed, "I'm just asking. There's no need to get so hostile, baka-ghost." Scathingly, she picked her feet up, scooting up against the pillows. Ichigo swung the desk chair a bit, scowling furiously. Baka-ghost…now that was a new one. And he didn't like it.

"So…then, midget," he smirked when violet eyes flashed dangerously at him, "are you going to figure out a way to send me to the light? Or are we going to be having repeat performances of what happened earlier?"

Rukia was shifting her pillows; she lobbed a certain pink damask one with frilly edges at him across the room. It sailed straight through his chest and hit the wall with a dull thud. Her lips pursed, "of course not!" she snapped, "I'm going to get rid of you and have my room to myself!"

"Uh huh, midget. Goodnight."

~~~*~~~

Words, were just, well, words. He knew that. He stayed out of sight during the following days after their moving in became settled. Once he saw their father, a stern dark-haired man with a cold gaze and even more icy tone for speaking with his kids. Byakuya, Ichigo learned his name was, after snooping through the man's _locked_ roll top desk. Apparently he'd been married twice, his first wife, Rukia's mother had died in childbirth and he'd been much aggrieved. Years later for a short time he had been married to a German woman and Ulqui-kun was born. After his divorce it seemed Byakuya had ended up jaded much the way _he_ had been for a long time after…

Ichigo replaced the bundled letters and divorce filings. Big daddy Byakuya was hardly ever at home so it was no small wonder his children weren't the most outgoing when it came to conversing with a resident revenant…

The front door shook.

Ichigo turned at the sound and mildly curious, floated to the peephole to look out. It was Rukia; apparently she'd lost her key and couldn't unlock the door. Her book bag was tossed on the step, its contents spilled as she'd probably assumed the missing key in there. He fought off a laugh. He knew where the key was…he'd seen her leave it on the bedside table the night before.

Hmph. The only question was…should he help her?

He drew his hand across the locks, hearing them snap back with resounding clicks. Rukia stepped back, shocked as the door swung open, Ichigo's grinning face greeting her. "Welcome home, midget," He said as she walked in. Rukia muttered something noncommittally and was about to shut the front door when he waved outside.

"What?" Fuming already because she'd had to rely on the ghost for help, her tone was rather biting.

"Your books? Unless you want to leave them out there?" Ichigo couldn't hide his amusement as she twitched then, a tic appearing on the side of her mouth. Grumbling something, she marched outside, scooped up her stuff in no particular order and stalked inside. Ichigo closed the door behind her.

"How was your day?" he asked, floating behind her soundlessly as she progressed into the dining room. "Fine," she said shortly, dropping the textbooks onto the rosewood table. Ichigo grabbed the closest one, a Geometry book, flipping the pages, he whistled to himself. "Boy, they sure didn't have this kind of stuff when I went to school," he muttered, carefully setting it back down on top of Natural Science.

"Oh?" she expressed surprise, "what did they have then?"

He looked over the paper in front of her, covered with fine writing. "Much the same. And no…don't think I'm going to tell you anything about me so you can research. You're going to have to work for info." Rukia raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't even thinking about that, idiot. No. I'm serious. What did they have then?"

"I told you," he muttered grumpily, turning away from the table. "Much the same," he rose up through the ceiling leaving her staring after him. _What had gotten into him_? She pondered, writing out a sentence then pausing, her pencil poised over the paper, something occurred to her. He had been looking at her…oddly, she'd noticed, ever since that first night. And it wasn't because of her body since as he'd told her dryly; she just didn't have the goods…

It was something else.

He had been looking at her face. Studying it and if she thought back, something had flashed through his honey amber eyes, _reminiscence_?

~~~*~~~

It was _her_ face. Gods he was a fool. A scowl touched his lips, _her_ face; it was _her_ face that had haunted him throughout the years. And now to see it on this girl…it was just too much to bear. Distantly he heard her door to her room close. He straightened up, sinking through to land just behind her where she sat at the desk.

"Oh, geez!" she gasped, catching sight of him in the reflective photo frame, "You scared me!" He snickered, "isn't that what ghosts are supposed to do? Scare people?" Her annoyed look said it all, she turned back to her textbook; "usually they want something…their bodies to be properly buried. Wills to be carried out. You name it and I'm sure there's a haunting to go along with it."

"What about…unrequited love?"

"What?"

He had said it so quietly; he knew she probably wouldn't have heard. "Nothing," he said dismissively, "forget I said anything."

She frowned and opened her mouth as if to say something. Then shook her head slightly, deciding not to. After all it wasn't too good to be getting curious notions about a revenant that was going to be exorcised from the abode, now was it?

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: I rather liked this chappie :D please review!


	4. Chapter 4 History

"How was your day?"

"Lousy." She snapped, going straight up the stairs to her room. Before entering she pasted a long rectangular slip of paper to the door, a sutra from the local Shrine. The priest had said they were quite effective for warding off malicious spirits. He didn't say lecherous ones, but she figured it might work just as well.

"Yo, what's this thing on the door?" Ichigo asked, sticking his head in through the upper wooden panel. Rukia jumped, sending the books in her arms crashing to the floor. "Don't do that!" she cried, her heart pounding from the scare. "Don't do what, midget?" he muttered, sliding all the way through to stare scowlingly down at her while she bent over to retrieve the fallen textbooks.

"You know what! Jump out at me—" she ticked her fingers off, "appear suddenly unannounced and—"

"These things won't work," he interrupted, tearing the sutra to pieces. "I know because the family who lived here before tried them with the same result. They couldn't see me of course but the looks on their faces said it all, as they'd see the protective seals be shredded in front of them." He smiled unpleasantly, "you're never going to get rid of me this way."

Rukia snarled something under her breath, it sounded suspiciously like a curse. She turned her back to him in a huff, as she did a cool breeze stirred the hairs on the top of her head. She whirled around, seeing him pull away, a queer hesitant look on his face.

"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a _ghost_."

"Har, har. Very funny, midget."

"I told you not to call me that! Baka-ghost!"

"Well I told you not to call me that _either_, _midget_!"

"Baka-ghost!"

"Midget!"

"Shutup!"

~~~*~~~

"So his name is Ichigo? And he lives in your closet?"

"Not in my closet. In my house!"

"Shh, this is a library, you know," the red-haired boy chastised. Rukia rolled her eyes, "I know that." Her best friend Renji Abarai had offered to accompany her on her quest to the _Library of Karakura_. A scary place for those used to slacking off on their studies. The musty odor of books and accumulated knowledge was proving a daunting task to Rukia but she squared her shoulders and plunged in. Renji was finding it funny to see her weaving over to their corner table like a drunken person, with an armload of history books about the town.

He took a look at the spines and whistled low, "are you sure your boy Ichigo, was this old?" he asked, indicating a book published in the early nineteenth century. "How should I know?" she muttered, "He refuses to tell me anything. Damn Baka-ghost."

That last curse earned them a few raised eyebrows from across the room. Rukia glared angrily until the other patrons hastily looked away. Renji leaned back, his job as note taker unfulfilled until she found something noteworthy to write down. Time passed by slowly with her constant stream of steady mutterings under her breath as she set aside book after heavy book without finding anything pertaining to the revenant and the house.

"Why don't you try looking on Microfilm?" Renji finally asked, as Rukia slumped on the table face down, defeatedly. She turned her head, "Microfilm? Well why didn't you suggest that from the start?" Her tone was hostile and he threw his hands up in mock surrender, "geez, don't get so upset about it. I just thought it had occurred to you already."

Her lips pursed, that was a good idea. _And it hadn't occurred to her at all_.

~~~*~~~

"What year do you think?" she surveyed the square cartons in the file cabinet as the Librarian, a tall spare woman in spectacles peered at them suspiciously. "I'd say we should start about—" Renji reached in and withdrew a carton dated 1974, "—thirty five years back."

Ms. Ise took it from him silently and went to the stations set apart in the distant corner for the Microfilm machines. Rukia looked up questioningly at Renji, "why thirty five years?" He shrugged, "just had a feeling. And anyway, you said he wore a uniform similar to what students attending Karakura High used to wear several decades ago. Remember the picture hanging in the Principal's office?"

Rukia nodded slowly. She could see the wisdom of this let alone not setting foot in the Principal's office for skiving out and leaving a forged note excusing her from the day's classes. She grimaced, definitely not an experience she'd like to repeat. Renji sat down and at once began fast forwarding through the want ads, Rukia stood a little behind his shoulder peering over at the screen.

"Kurosaki, right?"

"Yeah. Ichigo Kurosaki."

Several minutes passed and then Renji flipped the dial back to a small front-page article dated March 7th 1974, "listen to this," he said, "Son of prominent local doctor to wed belle of the town. Local beauty, Ms. Hisana Ransho; their wedding date is set for August 16th. We wish them the best happiness."

"So he was engaged." Rukia said to herself, Renji still heard the faint underlying note to her voice. "So it seems," he commented. He flipped the dial, passing through two months worth of newsprint before coming to another article pertaining to the family. "Local teen still missing. Hasn't been seen in three weeks. Father, Isshin Kurosaki devastated, says 'his son wouldn't just up and runaway like that.' Police can offer no leads to his whereabouts."

Rukia frowned, "if he ran away then why did he come back and haunt the house?"

"Maybe he didn't," Renji said ominously, a final article, little more than an inch long described the finding of the missing teen's body. The death was ruled as suicide. Another longer one took up the second page detailing his former fiancé's wedding just days after he was found.

~~~*~~~

Numbly she said goodbye to Renji after writing down the name of the Cemetery _he_ was buried at. She thanked him and then went on home, thinking all the while of a boy whose life had ended so suddenly and with his own hands. She stopped at the gate and looked up at the house, wondering how many times he'd tried to comfort his grieving family before finally giving up. Realizing no one could hear him or see him and the girl he'd loved was marrying somebody else.

Droplets rolled down her cheeks, raising her hand she brushed them away. Walking up the steps, the door swung open invitingly. _He_ floated a little beyond the door, scowl in place, "hello and welcome home—whoa! Whoa! Are you…crying?" She walked in, still wiping away tears that fell fast from her eyes. She looked at him, standing-well-basically floating several inches off the floor. Staring back at her worriedly.

"Did something happen?"

His tone sounded sincere and she knew him concerned, not just plying fake sympathy. Her throat closed up and she dropped her head down, "no, nothing," she said thickly. Ichigo ducked his head, trying to meet her eyes, "are you sure you're alright? Because you don't look it."

Ignoring his bluntness, she hiccoughed slightly, "I've decided. You can stay."

"What?"

"I'm not going to try to get rid of you. Just stay here…" though she didn't add it. Her mind said it for her: _keep greeting me when I come home_. Cool air wrapped around her, just inches above her skin and back, looking up she found him close, only when their eyes met did he speak, "don't move. I don't know what you were getting into but…stop crying. Everything will be alright."

She swallowed with difficulty, "yeah. I think so too."

Only when she smiled a watery smile did one crack out over his frowning face. And she really believed it would be—that is—okay from now on.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: two more chapters and then this is finis. I cried a little at the last two paragraphs… shuts off the waterworks. Ahem please review!


	5. Chapter 5 Hopes and fears

Four months passed. The days in calm idyllic pleasantry, everyday on the week days, when she'd come home from school, the front door would open, he'd greet her and then they'd proceed to her room where they exchanged banal talk, mostly _about how her day had gone_. It became a sort of routine for them, he didn't call her midget as much and she didn't insult him by rarely ever calling him: baka-ghost. _Only when she was really mad_.

Rukia looked up from the quiz she was studying to find him watching her, his eyes contained a peculiar light in their amber depths. "What is it?" she asked, laying her pencil down on the bedspread. Ichigo held her gaze for a few moments then abruptly turned away, "nothing," he mumbled. If she didn't know better she'd have thought there was a faint pinkish tinge to his translucent cheeks.

"If it's nothing—then why are you blushing?"

"Heh. Never can fool you," he muttered, he swooped down, passing through the foot of the bed and brushing something feathery light against her forehead. _His lips_, she realized, feeling her skin crawl. "I can't touch you," he said, backing away. She thought she heard remorse in his tone and sat up herself. "There's something I wanted to ask you—" she steadied her voice; though her heart was doing flip flops. Ichigo crossed his arms over the blood-stain on his chest, "well spill, what?"

His scowl was back in place and she hurriedly finished, "your birthday. When is it?"

"Huh? Is your brain screwed?" he twirled his finger at the side of his head until she threatened to toss a pillow at him. "Of course I wouldn't remember. It's been years beyond count—"

"You're lying. You remember," she said firmly.

Ichigo snorted, "Well if you really want to know. It's tomorrow. The 8th. Happy now?"

"Yes," she smirked, "for now."

"Midget…" she heard him mutter before he vanished through the ceiling.

~~~*~~~

"Renji, what do you think a ghost would want?" Rukia asked; they were inside of a toy store looking at shelves upon shelves of plush rabbits. "Certainly not Chappy the rabbit items," he muttered discouragingly, earning him a sharp jab in the gut.

"I'm serious! I want to get Ichigo something but I don't know what!" she turned back to a promising pink eared bunny with large doe eyes. Renji sighed, covering his face with his hand; "Rukia…you do remember this is a dead guy, right? A guy that's been dead and haunting his family's old house for thirty-five years…I mean come on! You talk about him like—he's—_alive_." He finished quietly, "it kind of freaks me out sometimes."

Rukia fingered the plush rabbit's ear, "I know he's _dead_." She said, refusing to meet her friend's concerned eyes, "but I…just want to thank him. For being there." Renji sighed again, "alright. If you're so insistent about it…I know just the thing any guy would like."

"Which is—what exactly?"

~~~*~~~

"Renji said you'd like it," Rukia deadpanned, uncomfortably holding out a girly magazine to the surprised revenant. "For me? Why?" he asked, immediately suspicious. It was the eighth of July and his birthday. "Just take it!" she snapped, looking away as he made it float in midair and flipped through it.

"And don't let my brother find it! Or dad! He'll have a royal fit…" she glared daggers, her chest tightening. _Was this jealousy_? Rukia glanced at him to find the magazine being tucked into a box in the corner and him looking at her in a way that made her heart race.

"Happy birthday, Ichigo," she said, forcing the words out of her suddenly dry throat.

He nodded. Just then heavy clomping footsteps rattled the pull down stairs below and the trapdoor popped open revealing a red headed boy. "Hi, Rukia. So..." Renji glanced around the dimly lit attic, "where is he?"

Ichigo was standing only a few feet from her but suddenly he had disappeared and then Renji was pulling himself up out of the space, going toward her he suddenly tilted her head up and laid a moist kiss on her lips. "Thanks, Rukia," Ichigo whispered through Renji's mouth. For a second as she looked up at her friend's possessed body and saw the amber colored eyes looking through Renji's dark brown ones…she felt something.

Before he let go, she whispered something, a sentence that she put her whole heart into and something, which she believed, had happened fervently, "I love you."

"I know."

Rukia saw him smile sadly as he pulled out of Renji's body.

She gave a half-choked sob and sunk down to the wooden floor as the red head regained consciousness, standing above her. "Hey! Where is he? Did he—Rukia? Hey…what's wrong? Did he say-" she felt his arms around her and could also sense Ichigo watching, albeit from a distance.

She was so stupid: _to fall in love with a ghost_.

~~~*~~~

The door didn't open for her the next day or the day after that. But she could feel him there, lurking in the corner, watching from the closets. Why was he avoiding her? At first she felt miffed and more than a little hurt. She'd meant it. What she'd said that day. She was in love with him. Did he think her shallow much as his fiancé was? _Maybe that was it…he was still in love with the girl who'd jilted him when he'd gone missing_…Rukia chewed her lip, lying on her stomach in her room.

He was in the closet, peeking through the doorknob. If she'd look fast enough, she'd catch an amber eyeball staring at her then abruptly he'd disappear when he'd realize she'd seen him. "Come out, Ichigo! I know you're there!" she finally said loudly.

A few minutes passed then he materialized by the bed, "what?" he looked grumpy as evinced by the scowl on his face. "I want to talk to you." She looked up at him then indicated the edge of the bed, repositioning herself so that as he gingerly sat down, they were facing each other.

They stared at each other as the silence grew.

"I wanted—"

"I needed—"

Chagrined they both cracked sheepish smiles.

"You go first." He said politely.

"No. You."

"I insist."

"Well I demand that you go first."

"Midget."

"Baka-ghost."

Rukia looked down at her hands, it wasn't what she'd wanted to say at all. "I'm sorry…I called you that. But I—"

"I love you." He said quickly.

It was her turn to be shocked, "what?"

"You heard me, midget. I. Love. You."

To her annoyance she felt her eyes tearing up, finding it difficult to speak, she began shuffling through her bedside table for a tissue. "Here," he didn't move, but a clean tissue floated out from the box behind her pillow and twitched meaningfully in front of her face.

"Thank you," she mumbled and blew her nose loudly. Wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. Ichigo looked modestly away, pursing his lips. "You know—" he began when she'd calmed down moderately enough, "if you think I—"

"I thought maybe…you'd assumed me flippant when I told you that day." Rukia fingered the creased folds of the tissue. "Of course not," he said, rolling his amber eyes to the ceiling, "I can tell when you're sincere and when you're lying. Just as you can me."

A tiny smile curved her mouth up, "I guess so. But I thought—"

"You thought I still…hadn't forgotten her. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah," she looked up, "how did you know?"

"Because you've been researching the Ransho family. Trying to find a picture of her. But I can tell you where there's one." Ichigo smirked, getting off the bed and then walking through the wall suddenly, "stay there. I'll bring it to you."

Rukia waited, hearing thuds coming from the attic space above then Ichigo popped back in the room, holding out a creased snapshot of a young woman. She took it from the air where it was suspended, her eyes widening as she realized the resemblance.

"Hisana Ransho. My one time fiancé…and at the time…no." he shook his head, "forget it." He slipped it from her lax fingers, "what does it matter now? You're the one I love now." Rukia watched as he shredded the photo that at one time must've meant the world to him. Numbly she felt cool air kiss her face, her cheeks. He couldn't kiss her the way they'd kissed that day, as he'd possessed Renji's body. They couldn't be together like any other normal couple…

"Ichigo," she looked up, meeting his eyes firmly, "promise me you'll stay?"

"Of course I'll stay! I'm earthbound remember? Tied to this house…it's you who has to promise to stay with me!" Ichigo scowled, ruffling the top of her head with an icy breeze. Rukia bit her lip, pretending to be serious; "as long as you do everything I say and don't call me midget anymore."

He eye rolled, "yeah, yeah. Midget, your every wish is my command…"

She tried to slug him but remembered just in time not to. "You promise then?"

"Promise what?" he teased.

"To always be with me?"

Ichigo looked truly surprised then smiled slowly, "I promise then. To always be with you…no matter where you are—as long as you're in this house of course."

Rukia frowned at his teasing but knew inwardly him to be sincere. "Thanks. I'll hold you to it!"

"Uh huh."

"I mean it, baka-ghost!"

"I told you not to call me that! And is that any way to talk to the man-er-ghost you love?!"

"Shut up!" she roared.

~~~To be concluded in chapter.6~~~

A/N: we're near the end…please review!


	6. Chapter 6 The last goodbye

A year went by. Rukia turned eighteen in January. Ichigo gave her a locket. That _he said_ had belonged to his mother; she figured he'd stolen it before his father and sisters moved away. But she still appreciated the battered round gold pendant; inside it had an old picture of him as a toddler. None existed of him as a teenager but she still wore it inside her blouse, close to her heart.

She would be attending Karakura University, refusing her father's offer to pay for an out of town one or if she wanted…possibly Cambridge in England. Her look of horror said it all and the matter was dropped. In Karakura she would stay. _With him_, though nobody else knew about him except Renji…or so she assumed.

The morning of July eighth, the sky was stormy and rain threatened as Rukia got up. Ichigo wasn't there to greet her, _he always was…so why not now?_ Puzzled, she climbed the pull down ladder of the attic, her hair messy from the bed, her thin summer gown clinging to her body as she stepped into the frigid regions of the sloped room. He was there. Standing at the small window, looking out into the rain gloomily.

"Hey you," she teased, moving across the creaking boards to him. Though they couldn't exactly touch per se, she leaned in by him and tilted her head up, fluttering her lashes coquettishly, "happy birthday." Dark amber eyes met hers and then dropped suddenly to the floor as if he were ashamed.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" her voice sounded strange even to her own ears. He didn't answer, not for a long time and then he said, "there's something I need to tell you. Go down to your room and I'll meet you there." His look was so peculiar that she hesitated to obey. One last look back as she went down slowly, wrenched her heart painfully. He wasn't looking at her; he was looking down at his own hands, immaterial but even more so and constantly fading in and out.

~~~*~~~

She sat on the bed, silently telling herself that what she saw could not be. He was a ghost…so maybe it was just his strength was sapped. Maybe he needed energy…

"I've been remembering things."

She looked up startled; he'd materialized through the ceiling and stood by the bed, looking down at her. "What kinds of things?" she felt herself ask. Though, she thought she knew. "Things about my death." He said simply. Her hands balled up in her lap, "tell me then. What do you remember?"

Ichigo blinked then smiled, Rukia thought, a sardonic smile, "You know what the papers said. Suicide. I wanted to kill myself…but I didn't actually. What happened was a damned accident." He took a deep breath in though he had no lungs, "Hisana's father got into a dispute with my dad over something quite silly. He never told me what it was but I believed myself wounded when our engagement was called off. You see; I loved her…she was my first…as they say the hurt goes deeper and lasts longer. When they showed no signs of relenting, I decided I'd prove my love for her by pretending to commit suicide. Leave a note, disappear etc. I left then. Went out into the woods north of here, took my hunting knife and knapsack of gear, preparing to spend a few nights out in the wilderness. Once she'd realize I'd supposedly died for love then I'd come back and everything would be fine."

He stopped.

"Go on," she muttered.

"Well after three days I began to have second thoughts. What if I'd done this and then nothing had changed? I'd be made a fool of. Not wanting that I packed my stuff and set off back down the trail I'd originally taken. About midway…I tripped on a damn rock. I still remember the sensation as my body fell, tumbling down a small ravine. I hit something at the bottom. I looked down at my chest and there it was—the chopped edge of a tree branch, situated low enough for me to hang there as it stuck out of my heart."

He tapped the bloody area, "more the fool I. When I woke up I was here. In my father's house, in my room and downstairs muffled crying floated up through the grate. Karin held it in, but Yuzu didn't. I didn't know…what had happened. That I had died—"

"Ichigo, I know. I understand…you don't have to tell me," Rukia tried to smile but found her lips curving downward at the determined expression on his face, "I have to. Before it's too late. I want you to know the truth."

"And what is the truth?!" she shouted, her voice growing shrill.

Guiltily he looked away, "—I died and no one could see me or hear me. For years I stayed here watching them, my family mourn me until they finally moved away. Faraway. Somewhere I couldn't follow for I realized I was stuck. Confined to this house. Unable to step outside—I knew this then to be my punishment for what I'd tried to do…"

It sounded like a confession. Ichigo met her eyes in one final appeal, "you came then. Your being here is what freed me." She watched as he started fading at the shoulders and she cried out, unsure of what exactly she'd said.

"You'll forget me. You say you won't but I know…I'm dead. You're not. We just weren't meant to be together." He smiled, beginning to melt away, "I love you…Rukia, so much." Was the last thing she heard him say, her own words shattering the air as he disappeared. "You liar!! You said you'd stay with me!"

Rukia dissolved into tears, falling facedown on the bed, her aching fists beating the mattress. She twisted around, choking on the saliva filling her mouth. The door opened and a small boy walked in. He stood exactly where Ichigo had, looking down at his sister, pity reflected in his bright green eyes, "I'm sorry. He's gone isn't he?"

She turned her face up and peered through her watery vision, "you—you saw him too?"

Ulquiorra nodded, Rukia crushed him to her chest, her unsteady breaths rattling noisily through her nose. "Your friend came," he said quietly as Renji appeared in the doorway. Seeing her state, the red head realized what had happened, "oh, Rukia. Gods…I'm sorry!"

She let go of her brother and was swept into a bear hug by the red head. "Shh," he soothed, "I—no. It'll be alright…"

Rukia felt her eyes tearing up again, "but he said—he promised me!" Renji rocked her back and forth, alternatively patting her back, "what did he promise?"

"He promised me he'd always be there…that he'd never leave me! But he lied!!!" her sentence ended on a sharp high note, sobs racked her body. Renji held her tightly never letting go.

~~~Epilogue~~~

She never did see the ghost again. Either immaterially or in the flesh. As Rukia often liked to believe yet it never did happen…was that they'd be reunited. He was, as Hisana had been to him, her first love. She never forgot him as he'd said she would. Through college and then at twenty-five, Renji proposed to her. She turned him down, still waiting for him…the Strawberry ghost.

This story has no real happy ending for Rukia, as she couldn't ever quite forget him; though she married Renji and settled down. She still kept an eye out for that familiar orange-haired man to come walking past her door.

~~~Finis~~~

A/N: I'm gonna cry! Wails…ahem. Sorry, please review!


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